There might be a simple answer to this, so I apologize in advance... Given all of the questions that soccer fans have had this summer (roster selection, game tactics, etc) Why doesn't the USSF grant the media access to question Bob Bradley? Why does the reason for not including Jozy Altidore on this upcoming roster, for example, have to be such a secret? Maybe he is hurt, maybe it's not conducive to Red Bull situation, or maybe Bradley hasn't even called him? We'll never know..... I'm trying to think of another sport where a manager or coach doesn't have to answer to the media regarding teams performance or the coaching decisions that he/she makes? Is this strictly an American sport thing?
Soccer writers in this country are either fans of the sport or not. In my experience, most of them are indeed fans of the sport. If they are fans, they don't want to piss off the wrong people. They've got a good gig (and a quite rare one) and would like to hold onto it. If they are not fans, they could care less about writing the types of stories we would like to read. The way they see it, there would be no point in explaining the Altidore omission (if they even realized it in the first place), as nobody cares anyway.
Just about every sportswriter I know has at least some interest in the sport of soccer. Editors on the other hand... But even with the editors it's not so much them disliking soccer as it is the old-school belief that their readers could care less about soccer.
The Jozy answer is simple, he's injured with his calf. He won't be dressed for the RBNY match this Sunday and he even wrote about it in his blog. There are a couple questions I would ask Bob though ... starting with why not cap Burciaga?
Took the words right out of my mouth... which is why I think Bradley's job is easier than almost any other NT's coach. He doesn' have to face the scrutiny and pressure others have to endure. That's a reason I could see a big-name coach attracted to this job in the US. Nobody questions you or crticizes you. The US NT lives his life in peace and harmony. The people who do question Bradley show up in Bigsoccer but not in the newspapers or on TV. American soccer on Goltv is the only show that's about futbol in the US that I know of and not many people know about it.
NY plays tomorrow, so my guess is that has something to do with Altidore not playing. Calm down people, at some point he will get called up and play.
I'm pretty sure the media does talk to Bradley, just very few articles are written in non-soccer-specific papers/websites/blogs.
Bradley doesn't reveal much to the press that isn't obvious. He went to the Crash Davis school of interviewing. His answers are all polite, respectful cliches that give absolutely no insight to anything you couldn't figure out on your own, and he prefers it that way. He's often been quoted as saying he likes to keep things within the team. In short, he's a bore. And he WAS asked about calling up Altidore. A quick Google News search of Jozy's name reveals an article by Luis Arroye, an excellent Chicago based soccer beat-writer. ------------------ "If you look at the box score last week, he wasn't in the 18," said Bradley, alluding to a leg injury that has sidelined Altidore. "In so many of these situations, form, injury, schedule -- all these things get factored in. "Certainly we're excited about what we see as a young player in the league. He has done well for himself. I think we've shown this year that we are constantly looking for the right moment to bring young guys into the national team." ------------------ http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...r07sep07,1,1673251.story?coll=cs-sports-print The reporters ask. They used to ask Bruce. He'd made a sarcastic comment in your direction. Bob Bradley just relies on polite vagueness. Soccer news isn't going to be on sportcenter all the time or on the cover of the sports section of the New York Times. You've got to dig. I suggest starting with the MLS: News and Analysis board, which posts an almost daily list of links to soccer articles around the country.
Jozy is hurt, plain and simple. He didn't even make the trip for the game against Chivas. He's home watching the Nats, then Red Bull. INJURY REPORT: CHIVAS USA - OUT: DF Carlos Llamosa (L knee ACL surgery); GK Justin Myers (L foot fracture); DOUBTFUL: DF Bobby Burling (abdominal strain) ... NEW YORK RED BULLS - OUT: FW Jozy Altidore (L lower leg injury); MF Chris Karcz (L knee); MF Santino Quaranta (R toe sprain)
The issue (if it is an issue) is that the soccer media ranks and the US Soccer coaching ranks are very small. These guys all know each other and have for years. A veteran writer like Ives garcelep or Steve Goff has probably known Bradley at Princeton, assisting Bruce, at Chicago, etc. As the sport grows, the coverage will grow, the number of reports will increase and more 'outsiders' will fill the coaching ranks. Then we'll see the kind of coverage you're talking about. You may wind up missing the old days...
Thanks to everyone who posted. There are two pertinent issues to my original post 1. ACCESS 2. COVERAGE With the help of Wisdom Cube from my other thread, i was shown that the USSF does provide the forum for Bradley, etc to be questioned. From there, like many of you have pointed out, it's up to the "media stream" (what readers want, what writers will cover and what editors will print). At the risk of sounding way too self-righteous, we shouldn't forget how important forums like BigSoccer are to the development of the sport. I'd like to think that this can be a "grassroots" type effort in the attempt to bring soccer to more of the forefront of the American Sports scene...and NOT because I want to see soccer on SportsCenter, but b/c the hope is that the more public attention the sport receives, the more attention to detail the sports takes within its on ranks....
I think what I pointed has a lot to do with the issues you're bringing up. It is a unique situation do to the scale of the sport and the close knit community involved in the coaching and coverage up to this point. The natural growth of the sport will change this.
the sports media in general, is apathetic to soccer... there are a number of media guys who are knowledgeable and can write effectively, with some insight... but other nations there are are 100 media types to every american, and the fan passion in the usa might be 10%, while everywhere else it's near 90%... national managers are under scrutiny continuously, while BB can live his life in leisure, go to his favorite starbucks, sit back and not get recognized.... it's gonna take decades for this to change in america....since 1990, there;s been remarkable change, although the advent of the internet was the critical media aspect, with socer geeks having an outlet for their passion...
The biggest problem with the US soccer media is that they never ask "upsetting" questions. Many years ago, when Bart Starr was coaching - and doing a terrible job - the Packers, the reporters asked him so many tough questions, Starr had to ask his security people to remove the toughest reporter from the room (later, Starr apologized and the reporter was allowed to return). Obviously, other NFL coaches (Jim Mora, Dennis Green, Mike Ditka) have experienced similar meltdowns. Now, I don't need some guy to ask needlessly aggravating questions but it's as equally aggravating that every reporter bought every one of his excuses about the various rosters and no one has ever questioned him on the formations or individual players. How about once someone could ask, "Jonathan Bornstein made a number of mistakes and yet you kept playing him instead of ..... What was exactly your reasoning?" And, if Bob begins to waffle about the schedule and so forth, just try to pin him further, make him reveal something. But this is not going to happen in the US. It didn't happen to Arena and isn't a danger to Bradley either.
the sports media wouldn't know an upsetting question if it was handed to them.. and with espn in bed with soccer now, you won't see any journalism from them... in fact, where do you see real journalism is any sport... now, the new york post approach to soccer would be the closest to a hot seat, but no one wants to read that stuff in the new york post, especially american soccer....
When Wannstedt was sucking in Miami, the Herald and the Sun-Sentinel reporters and columnists were pretty hard on him. ESPN, for the most part, is not a journalistic entity, so I don't except much from the organization that once claimed so many incorrect things on Miuchael Vick. http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007...es-espn-for-seriously-misleading-michael-vic/
You got it. I watched this for years inside newspapers. Bruce Arena hid his lack of knowledge of soccer by not answering dumb questions from reporters who knew even less about soccer. Pete Rozelle got it right: Total access granted to reporters; his brilliance was that he developed a super public relations staff that made friends at newspapers by providing them with story ideas, free food, quotes collected from athletes on demand, whatever the reporters wanted. The NFL's public relations staff can't protect bad coaches and doesn't want to. All that's wanted is frequent long stories leaving little room in newspapers for stories about competing sports
Actually, I thought the media took much longer than the fans to be hard on Wanny. Mostly, because like Bob, he was a "nice guy" and part of the "old boy network".But they learned their lesson,and I see Cameron on a short media lease. Hopefully,one day the US soccer media learns their lesson as well. And when they learn to ask tough questions, maybe they will explain the Klinsmann fiasco....
Remember, Jason Cole and Armando Salguero were suspended by the Herald for 2 weeks, IIRC, because they high-fived each other when Buffalo beat Miami in a late-season game and thus knocked them out of the last play-off spot. With Huizenga's pronouncements that this was "playoffs or bust", the two thought that this would surely mean the end of Dave's career with the Dolphins. As it was, Huizenga brought Crapstedt back for the disastrous 2004 season, then fired him when the Dolphins went to 1-8. Dave ended up pocketing about $20M from the team during his tenure in SoFla. Saban had different media rules than Wannstedt and not a single reporter liked Nick but they only treated him harshly after he quit. Then they really lit into him.